Handle for wooden baskets



Sept. 20, 1932. R. P. YOUNG AHANDLE FOR WOODEN BASKETS Filed Dec. 28; 1928 IIIIIIIIIIIA INVENTOR ATTORNEY Vio of Fig. 2,

erre rens RALPH l. YOUNG, MARLBORO, NEW YORK HANDLE ron woonniv BAsKn'rs Application led December 2S, 1928.V

My invention consists in the novel features hereinafter described, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, which shows certain forms in which I have contemplated embodying my invention, selected by me for purposes of illustration, and the said invention is fully disclosed in the following description and claims. n

The object of my invention is to provide a metallic handle for wooden baskets of the kind ordinarily used for holding and transporting grapes and other fruits, vegetables, etc., and is an improvement on certain of the handles set forth in my copending ap lication for Letters Patent of the United tates Serial No.'l85,960, filed April 23, 1927. My

present invention consists of certain novel constructions and combination of' parts whereby the handle can be more readily Vattached to the baskets and used therewith, with special reference to the assembly ofthe handle, the locking of the cover of a basket in position, and economy of space in storing or shipping after the handles have been assembled.

Referring to the accompanying drawing,

Fig. l represents a perspective view, partly in section, of a portion of a basket showing the preferred form of handle attached thereto in operative position and holding the cover against accidental displacement.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view on a larger scale, illustratingthe connection o'f a side piece of the handle with one side of a basket and with a basket cover position. Y

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the upper end of one of the side pieces. Y

Fig. 3.a is a similar iication. Y

Fig. 4 is a view similar illustrating a to the upper part modified form of handle. Y.

5 is a detail sectional elevation showing the upper part of another Vmodified form Y rand Vmidway between the ends in closedv i Storage and shipping will be 1. l WGW of a lght modl `be turned down and Serial No. 328,940.

of side piece and adjacent parts of the basket and cover. Y

Fig. V6 is a fragmentary section showing the parts'illustrated in F ig. 5, intheir relations to the basket and cover.

The wooden baskets for which my improved handle is intended, are manufactured commercially at factories located at various points more or less remote from the points WhereL the baskets are packed and shipped. The handles, which are preferably formed of metal wire and of iron or steel, comprise in each case, three members, two side members adapted to be permanently secured to the sides of the basket thereof, and a detachable bail member which, according lto the present invention, may be swung down'from its upright position. Preferably the side members are permanently attached to the baskets before shipment. As the bail members are made separately from the side members, or pieces,'the baskets, after the adjustment of the sidecmembers, may be nested and shipped to the consumer with a suitable number of bail members and lids or covers. Under ordinary circumstances the bail members are attached tothe already attached side members to complete the handles, so that 'they may be used to supportv the basket while they are being filled. After the baskets'are packed or filled, covers or lids are placed inV closed position thereon to protect the contents, and the baskets are in condition for shipment.v lt will be seen that facilitated by use of handles constructed according to the present invention inasmuch `as the bails may the filled basketsv may 85 be piled or arranged much vmore compactly than would otherwise be possible. Each y handle, as hereinafterdescribed, entersrevcesses' in the cover at opposite sides thereof,

tov prevent longitudinalv movement of the 90 substantially exactly pieces iii i edge-oftheside of the'basket, A.

cover, and also engages the cover from above to hold it on the basket.

it is found in practice that these baskets, which usually comprise a solid wooden bottom, indicated at B, vertically disposed side pieces or members, indicated at A, and binding strips of wood veneer, illustrated at a, a and a2 (see Fig. 1), vary materially as to the vertical height of the sides, due at least in part to variations in the thickness of the n aterial of which the bottom, B, is formed, this variation being sometimesy as great' as from one eighth of an iiich toone'half an inch, and as the cover retaining` shoulder of each side piece must ,extend inwardlyY at accommodate the cover, indicated at C in 1, and shown asincluding longitudined;`

strips, c', and a'ceiitral transverse strip or cleat, 02, andias'it is desirabletliat'thel s'de pieces shall extend to or beneath thebott'om *of the basket and'be secured-:thereto-inforder thatr the weight of the basket and `coi-iteiits be transmitted from'theV bottom ofthe basket directly to the handle when hebasket is supported thereby, it is particularly def sirableto provide a: formof'side p-ece having means for properly positioning the uper end thereof with reference to the top ofthe'basket, aiidalso means for accommodating such variationsinthe height oft-he basket sides, for without such= accommoda# tion it would: be necessary Vto make lside a variety of lengths and? the cost of production. would be greatly increased.

lh' carrying out* my inventionl as illustrated in Figsrl, 2-and` 3, formth'e side member, indicated at l, preferably of round wire' and having at its'loweifenda portion, fr, suitable to "be bent readily 'and Vteriiiin'ated by an impaling pointl,y 5. The sid;` nie-niber, 1, is constructedfto rtend s' h above the 'top ofthe basket, and is bentsharplyr at the outside ofthe basket upon itselito form the holding loop, 9,'- and portionior tend"A ngy inwardly Afrom fthe' lower side'. ofv the holding loop and substantially.l perpendicular Vto the main portion off the side piece and forming shoulder, Stato engage is then bent sharplyfdown vardly ft 1 clamping portion, substantially parallel to the main portion of the s` de piece and-,spaced therefrom sufficiently tovreceive and-clamp the 'side member on the side ofthe basket, the

portion, 8, beingpreferably rougheiied', as at Si?, where it engages the side of'thebasket'. The stock of-the Yside member is thenbent sharply back and upwardly froni'the por.- tion S, as indicated at 8c, to-lie alongtlie poreion'S; andengage the' side ef'thebal thus providing` a' better bearingfor tbeclip the proper" distance" above the upper edge of thelbasketsidegto the upp erV The stock' gaging the contents fed by theportiom, and the adjacent The portion, 80, extends upwardly through a recess at the edge of the cover to hold the latter against longitudinal movement, and the stock is then'bent into horizontal position, to form the shoulder, 12, in proper' position to engage the cover, C, and hold it down on the basket. his portion, C, is preferably bent in such a direction that it will extend longitudinally of the basket so that'it will not project inwardly beyond the inner side of the part, 8c, as shown in Figs. 1,-21 and. This `is desirable because it does notofferY any inwardly extending Vprojections to interfere with nesting the baskets. l wishit to be understood, however, that the partfreferred'; to may'be bent inwardly if desiredfisfindicated in Fig. 3a, at 12a, for example, so yas to project over the innerend of theslotintheeover instead of the sideY portion, Ll, the stock of the side piecesv being sufficiently soft to permit them to be bentaround the bottom edge of the particular basket to'whichV theyare attached, thus a'cc inmodatingvariations in the height ofthe basket side and the impaling point, 5,1@ securedlto the bottom- B. y

lt will be understoodthat each baskethis provided withltwo-of-these side pieces, and thehandl'e lis completed-.by abail member having a hand engaging portion, 13,` and downwardlyextending arms, 14,14, which are provided at their lower ends with'interengagingfportions, preferably in the form of hooks, 17, 17, whichar'e made to engage 'with the loops, 9,9, of theV side pieces. Asthe bail member isusually attached to the side members and basket at the time the basket is to be filled and'bef'ore the coverl is applied, l prefer to form the bail member with outwardlyf extending bends orloop portions, in-

dicated at 20,111 Eig. 1,-so as to make the bail member wider' at the upper portionadjacent to the 'hand enga-ging member, 13. lThis forms ai recess, 20a-,lat each side of the bail toreceive one edge ofthe cover, C, when the cover is v.to be inserted, the other edgebeing beneath-.the shoulder,12, -at-the opposite side of the basket, so that the cover can be slid longitudinally: through-the bail without enof the basket, until it is inthe proper position longiugudinally, thereof, when the raised edge can be forced down beneath Ythe shoulder-,12, of the side piece-on the adjacentside ofthe basket, by slightly springing the cover, erably engaging' thetop of the cover at'rthe edges iof 'notches or, recesses, .0, in the Ecover,

the shoulder, 12,-.prefeY Y piece and form to prevent the cover from moving vertically. rlhe upwardly extending portions, 8c, of the side pieces extend through the notches in the cover, and the horizontal portions, 8a, also lie in these notches, thus holdingthe cover against movement longitudinally of the basket. lt will be seen that in this form of handle the bail member may be swung downwardly toward the cover, thus facilitating' economy of space in storage. Obviously, the longitudinal slats, c, may be replaced by a single member, for example, one of wood veneer.

ln Fig. al l have shown a modification of the handle, in which the corresponding ref.

erence numerals are used, with the addition of 100 to avoid repetition. ln this construction, the side member, 101, has its lower end (not shown) the same form as the side piece illustrated in Fig. 1, but at its'upper end extends slightly above the top of the basket, and is Vbent sharply downwardly upon itself in a plane parallel to the side of the basket to form the holding loop, 109, and has a portion extending inwardly from the lower side of the holding loop and substantially perpendicular to the main portion of the side ing a shoulder, 108a, to engage the upper edge of the side of the basket, A, and to enter a recess or notch, 010, at the edge of the cover and act to hold the cover against longitudinal movement. The side piece, 101, also has a clamping portion, 108, having a roughened surface, 1086, and corresponding to portion, 8, in Fig. 1. lfn this form of side piece, there is not, however, any extension up through the cover nor any cover locking shoulder.

Each basket, of course, is provided with two of these side pieces or members, 101, and the handle is completed by a bail member having a hand engaging portion, 118, and downwardly diverging arms, 11e, 114, which are provided with interengaging portions,

preferably in the form of hooks, 117, 117, which are made to engage with the loops, 109, 109, of the side pieces, and of which the ends, 117e, 117e, engage in 61, at the edges of the cover, C', to prevent longitudinal movement thereof, and engage the cover from aboveV at the inner ends of the notches to hold it down. Preferably, these notches extend through the cover, and also in the ends of the cross cleat, om, and preferably engage the horizontal portion, 108g, so as to prevent longitudinal movement of the cover. Preferably, the arms of the bail are bent outwardly at 1141, to enable, among other advantageous features, the use of aV longer hand engaging portion, 113, while permitting the lower parts lof the arms to extend in the desired directions.

In Figs. and 6, l'have shown another slight modification of my invention, in which n the co'rrespondingv parts are given the same recesses, 010, Y

numerals with the addition of 200. n this form, the upper end of the side member, 201,

is given a bend, at 208a, fitting over the top of the basket edge, a-nd hasa part, 208, eX- tending downwardly, and is then bent back upon itself,and is provided with al vertical portion, 2080, lying alongside of the part, 208, and extending above the position of the cover, whereit is provided with a terminal 209, to receive the bail. This loop extends preferably longitudinally of the basket, so as not to interfere with nesting. The lower outer surface of this loop, indicated at 212, will therefore rest upon the top surface of the cover, and hold it down upon the basket, while the portion of the part, 2080, adjacent to the loop, 209, and between it and the bend,

08a, will lie in the slot in the cover and hold` the cover against longitudinal movement. The bail for use with side pieces of the kind described in Figs. 5 and, 6, may be of any desired form, but will preferably be of' the general type shown in Figs. 1 and 2, for eX- ample. it will be noted that in this case the bail engaging loop, indicated at 209, is situated in line with the inner side ofthe basket wall or edge instead of in line with the outer side, as indicated in Figs. 2 and 4, for example, and therefore, it will obviously be necessary to detach the bail in attaching or removing the cover.

The various embodiments of my improved handle herein shown and described, as will be seen, Vare'extremely simple in construction and can be manufactured very cheaply and have at the same time many of the desirable features obtainable with much more expensive types of handle.

`What l claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. A metallic handle for veneer baskets, including a pair of side pieces, each comprising a rod-like member, provided at its upper end with an integral clip for engaging the upper edge of the basket'side, and an integral loop adjacent thereto having its lower portion in position to engage and retain the cover, each of said side at its lowerv end with means for attaching it to the bottom of the basket, and a bail member provided at each end with means for pivot-ally engaging the loops of said side pieces, and lying when in folded positionv in a plane substantially coincident with the top surface of the cover.

2. A metallic handle for veneer baskets including a pair of side pieces each comprisv provided at its upper ing a rod like member, endwith an integral clip for engaging the upper edge of the Ybasket side, and an integral loop adjacent thereto, and disposed in a plane longitudinal with respect to the basket, and having the center of the loop closely v adjacent to the plane of the top surface of the cover, each of said side pieces pieces being provided woV being providedv at its loWerend Withmeans for attaching it to the bottom of the basket, and a. bail member provided at each end with a lioolipoition disposed transversely With respect tothe basket for engaging one of said loopssaid hook port-ions extending inwadly into position to engage the cover and hold it from Vertical movement, and said Vbail lying, When in folded position, Wholly in a horizout-al plane substantially coincidenty with the top surface of the Cover.

In testimony whereof affix my signature.

RALPH P, YOUNG. 

